'olderthansome' - I hope I didn't come across as sounding too dogmatic. I was simply trying to give some basic collecting advice.

Thanks for pointing out some of the features on early Krag bayonets. It would be a shame for a surviving early finish to be removed in error or a rare scabbard to be shunned.

I think the main problem with sharpened blades is that they are often crudely done and effect the tempering of the blade.

IMHO - Sometimes, the pictures of soldiers "sharpening blades" appear be 'showboating' and 'hamming it up' for the camera.

I recall the British having a "Bayonet Scandal" during one of the Sudan Campaigns. Over-sized triangular blades, made on contract in Solingen, Germany, had been ground down to gauge properly. In use, they bent like corkscrews, because the surface hardening had been compromised!

I think it's great to have some discussion of Krag bayonets. It is an area not often covered on the KCA.

(It is also probably good to mention, as an aside, that the original influence for the U.S. Krag bayonet was the contemporary Swiss bayonet for the Schmidt-Rubin rifle).

Ultimately, it is the Collector, who has to define, refine and decide what he wants.

I kind of like the Andy Warhol look:

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